


Better than Perfect

by Minnievet



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: But like really really light angst, Cuddling & Snuggling, Established Relationship, Fluff, Literally the softest thing i've ever written, M/M, Pet Names, Slight Angst in the beginning?, This is so soft, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Ushijima Wakatoshi is a Good Significant Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-05
Updated: 2021-01-05
Packaged: 2021-03-16 06:20:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,521
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28577421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Minnievet/pseuds/Minnievet
Summary: Tendou was imperfect.But, here, bathed in moonlight and the warmth of his lover, he had never felt more perfect.
Relationships: Tendou Satori/Ushijima Wakatoshi
Comments: 11
Kudos: 169





	Better than Perfect

**Author's Note:**

> Slight Manga Timeskip Spoilers!!

Tendou was imperfect.

For the entirety of his young life, he was reminded of that fact. Behind wrinkled hands, adults critiqued his too large eyes and awkward posture in poorly disguised whispers. With their jeering expressions and pointed fingers, kids were more brazen with their criticism. Their words sunk into his skin, itching like a rash when he sat alone at his lunch table with ears that burned in envy at the laughter of his peers. Moon shaped marks imprinted on his palms as he balled his fists to stop the tears from spilling out across his cheeks. Afterall, monsters don’t cry.

High school was better.

With sharp eyes and drawling teases, Tendou tried to make the label of monster his own on the court. He knew he was good at what the game. His mind moved almost as fast as his blocks, and the thudding of the ball as it ricocheted off his fingers to the floor sent burning bursts of pride through his chest. The tickle of animosity and fear in the gazes of his opponents on the other side of the net felt better than the chill of mockery. It was almost empowering, a feeling of euphoria and control over the weakness of his past.

However, nothing compared to the congratulatory hands of his teammates on his back after a successful block.

For the first time in his life, he had friends. They called his name when they passed in the hallways and rolled their eyes with fond expressions at his antics, not a trace of the disdain he had grown so accustomed to in his youth. His lunch hours were spent with vibrant conversations and the laughter that he craved so dearly for years. It was comfortable and warm and so unlike what he had pictured for his future. His high school years were spent full of light and mirth as his heart beat alongside his team’s, both on and off of the court. Loneliness was nowhere to be found, especially when Ushijima’s hand interlaced with his own underneath their table after his confession at the end of their third year.

But, no amount of love changed the fact that Tendou was an imperfect being.

Wounds don’t heal when the bleeding stops; they scar. He had hoped that once he graduated, the taunts from his adolescence would fade from his skin, but he saw the invisible scars from the hurtful words every time he looked in the mirror. His hair was unnatural. His eyes too large. His smile too wide. His body too gangly. Even after he shaved off his hair to somehow gain control of his own self-image, the flaws seemed to shine through. It seemed they were the only things he could see.

He wasn’t someone like Ushijima.

His boyfriend was perfect. He was like the goddamn sun with the way people gravitated towards him. In adulthood, his face had grown even more handsome and smooth, and his body muscular and strong. Watching him soar through the air with his arm tensed and ready to spike was one of the few sights in this world that still stole Tendou’s breath away, even if he was now relegated to witnessing it on the TV. Ushijima was the most beautiful person in existence, but especially so when his olive eyes burned with intensity and passion. He was a sturdy leader and a reliable friend. His words were used sparingly and thoughtfully, not rambles of anxiousness or weapons of spite like Tendou’s. There was no deception or double meaning in his remarks. Tendou still wasn’t sure how he had managed to convince someone like Ushijima to fall in love with him. He was a genuine, beautiful person that was in every way the redhead’s opposite. He was perfect, too perfect to be an actual person.

“You’re too perfect.”

The words had slipped out as a whisper from Tendou’s mouth one night as he and Ushijima laid tangled up in the covers of his bed in his small apartment in Paris. The moon hung in the window, casting a silvery sheen over the inhabitants of the bedroom. The glow caressing Ushijima’s face, turning the golden skin silver in the lowlight. His eyes were closed as he exhaled in a steady rhythm, and his arms draped around the redhead’s waist. Tendou’s head rested against his bare chest and his long fingers lovingly traced the curves of the larger man’s face. He was beautiful.

“Mmm, did you say something, Satori?” Ushijima rumbled in a voice heavy with sleep. His grip around his boyfriend’s waist grew more firm, as he languidly peeked down at his boyfriend. Tendou’s ears flushed at accidentally waking his boyfriend. The man had been left exhausted from a fatal combination of jetlag and the ending of the volleyball season. He had practically tugged his boyfriend into bed the moment they returned from the airport. Tendou wasn’t personally very tired, as his affinity for caffeine had led to a nocturnal life on his days off, but he wasn’t going to miss any opportunity to cuddle and ogle his boyfriend.

“It’s nothing, Wakatoshi,” Tendou murmured, leaning up slightly to press a kiss into Ushijima’s neck which made the man hum in contentment. His hands made their way up the top of Ushijima’s head and began to thread themselves through his hair. “Go back to sleep. You’re exhausted.”

“Are you sure? If you want to talk, I can be awake,” Ushijima spoke with conviction, but the dropping of his eyelids with each scratch of Tendou’s fingers against his scalp told a different story. Tendou let out of little huff of laughter at the way his boyfriend was losing his fight against fatigue. His heart was practically bursting with warm affection at his boyfriend’s attempt. “I like talking to you, Satori.

“I know, I know, but it was nothing, my love. I promise,” Tendou crooned and felt Ushijima’s arms tighten around him at the use of the affection moniker, pulling him even closer into the embrace. Pressing another gentle kiss into his boyfriend’s neck, Tendou turned his gaze back up to admire Ushijima’s sleepy face. Tendou’s voice was softer as he continued, “I was just musing about how it’s unfair that you’re perfect.”

“I have many flaws. I’m not perfect, Satori,” Ushijima spoke with furrowed eyebrows. His words were slurring slightly as his eyes fought the drowsiness that was urging them closed. Still, he tried to stay coherent enough to respond to Tendou. “Nobody is free from imperfections.”

“I know, my dearest,” Tendou teased. His murmur was practically dripping with fondness. Something about the way he said it was so _Wakatoshi_ , so comfortingly literal. Tendou stopped his ministrations on Ushijima’s scalp and dropped his hand to the man’s cheek. Ushijima leaned into the touch as Tendou’s thumb stroked a path across his cheekbone. The man’s half-lidded eyes fixated on Tendou’s. His pupils blown wide in the darkness. “But you’re so beautiful and so genuine, and when I think of perfection, I think of you, my miracle boy Wakatoshi.”

“Nothing is perfect, Satori,” Ushijima insisted, but a yawn interrupted his speech. Tendou looped his arms around the man’s neck as Ushijima buried his face into the red head’s short hair. With Tendou in his arms and the warmth of their combined bodies, fatigue was overpowering his will to stay awake. “It’s impossible.”

“Try as you might, you can’t convince me otherwise, Wakatoshi. You are perfect,” he hummed and trailed his fingers down Ushijima’s neck as the man’s breath tickled his scalp. Contentment buzzed through his veins, warm and intoxicating in such close proximity to Ushijima. “Now, go back to sleep, lover.”

Ushijima made a grunt of disagreement but uttered no further word to argue. His exhaustion finally convinced him it was more beneficial to hold Tendou close and slip into slumber than to discuss the semantics of a word. Silence rang in the room as Ushijima’s breaths began to even out again. Tendou’s fingers drew patterns across his partner’s neck and shoulders. He was savoring the warmth of Ushijima’s skin underneath his fingertips when Ushijima suddenly tightened his embrace.

“If I am perfect,” Ushijima murmured. His words muffled. His pitch almost too low and soft for Tendou to hear, “You’re better than perfect.”

Ushijima’s lips pressed a gentle kiss into Tendou’s scalp before a chorus of snores vibrated his chest as sleep finally reigned the victor and claimed him. His arms were clutched tightly around Tendou’s waist, holding him close, and his nose nuzzled in Tendou’s hair. Their legs still intertwined underneath the covers, and the moon still hung in the window, painting the room in its light. Tendou swallowed the thick emotion in his throat and willed the surprised tears that were beginning to well in his eyes not to roll down his cheeks. Pressing closer to the heartbeat in Ushijima’s chest, Tendou forced his eyelids to shut on the unshed tears and focused on the steady rhythm beating under his ear.

Tendou was imperfect.

But, here, bathed in moonlight and the warmth of his lover, he had never felt more perfect.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm still working on the next chapter of Tending a Wounded Heart, but it's UshiTen day on Twitter, and I NEEDED to post something in celebration.
> 
> So, I just wrote this little fluff piece during work because UshiTen makes me really soft. I hope you all liked it!


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